RP:Music in the Chapel

Synopsis: Raphaline and Zahrani cross paths at the Chapel of Cyris after the opening event for the so-called "Hero of Freedom" tournament. The two of them seem to connect by playing instruments.

Chapel of Cyris, Larket

Raphaline is not here for the chapel, despite its rather lovely architecture and subtle messages. Instead, she is passing through on her way to the concert hall where the duel had recently taken place. After watching the battle, her heart began to sorely miss being on a stage of that size performing her music. So, while the hall is rather empty, she thought she might sneak in and just test the acoustics. What she had not expected was how many visitors might be in the chapel, which given its adjacent location to the hall might pose a small problem. As inconspicuous as possible, the bard makes her way quietly passed those praying and the clerics dawdling about until she accidentally bumps a hip pretty hard into a pew. The half-elf whispers a small, elven curse before covering her mouth and biting back the rest of the expletives that almost leaked out. A few were dwarven and not very nice. She tries to very casually rub at the spot on her hip which she is pretty sure is going to be bruised later.

Zahrani quietly sits at one of the pews, providing aid to the devotees in various ways, some had come for healing of common maladies or injuries. Others received letters from family outside the city. Many Larketian families were not convinced of this new-aged attempt at normalizing Vakmatharas as a benevolent deity, and so they turned to Cyris's protection to save their children from the city-state's curse. Some even choose to take up the call as clerics or paladins of the God of Freedom, galvanized into spiritual service by the encroaching darkness. The feline paladin herself wears simple sleeveless armor, the boots making a soft clank with each step. She has an elven, androgynous face, with dark-brown skin and cyan eyes. Her pointed ears have tufts of fur on them, and her curly black hair is carefully braided to stay out of her face. One of the humans praying had overheard Raphaline curse after hitting the pew, and completely unaware of Rani's gender, walks up to the paladin and says softly, "Sir, we appear to have a visitor." With a soft laugh, the cat-like woman responds with a mid-tenor, "So we do." She approaches the musician, an aura of divine warmth and strong spirit accompanying her, "Welcome."

Raphaline looks up from where she had been rubbing furiously at her hip and curses a bit more to herself. Great, now she has attracted attention and a paladin-looking stranger is approaching her. Was it the curses? She has never been the religious type and is never really sure what the best protocol is for being in a sacred place. So, she does what she does best and plasters on a winning grin and offers her hand in greeting to the other woman. “Thank you. I’ve never stopped to admire this place before. Seems like there are quite a few visitors here than I expected,” she says as she glances around to the flux of individuals. Given her recent return, she isn’t completely up to date on the events currently occurring in Larket. Turning her emerald gaze back to Zahrani she says, “I’m Raphaline by the way. I believe I saw you at the Larketian party turned mess that was a few days go. Goodness, never saw a party take such a deep swing into crazy so quickly.”

Zahrani offers a smile in return, placing a hand over her heart and saying, "I am Zahrani, a paladin of Cyris. Nice to meet you, Raphaline." She points to a courtyard where they could speak without disturbing the prayers or meditations of others, then proceeds to walk in that direction. Should Raphaline decide to follow, the paladin would continue the conversation, "I was indeed there. I saw you speaking with the Queen. If it isn't too much to ask, how did the two of you come to know each other?" The feline takes a seat at a picnic table in the courtyard, offering a chair to the violinist before pouring some water.

Raphaline glances back at the concert hall one more time before following the paladin out towards the courtyard. As for the question about the queen, the bard cannot help the short, snort of a laughter that escapes her. Grinning, she answers, “I met Jos back when we were both poor, homeless bards wandering the region. It is weird to think how far from that point we have both come.” She leaves out the bit where they chose very different paths from one another. “We haven’t been close in sometime, but I still possess a nostalgic fondness for her.” She takes a seat across from the other woman, setting her violin case a top the table with a soft clunk. “Have you been in these lands for very long?”

Zahrani looks to the violin case as she hears the short-and-sweet telling of Raphaline's relationship to Josleen. She grins as her bright blue eyes look back to the woman's face. She takes a sip of water from the goblet in front of her, glancing up to see a city guard walk by. The man pretends not to notice, though anyone with an understanding of body language could see the tension in his walk. Macon had assigned him to 'keep an eye on' the Chapel, after a disagreement between the King and the paladin. Looking back at her guest, the paladin answers her question, "My mother wasn't from here, but she gave birth to me in Cenril before passing on. I grew up in the Isran Collective, a feline colony in the city. Then I was adopted by a paladin at 8, and he raised and mentored me into who I am today. Lithrydel is the only land I've known." It's a very condensed version of her life story, but if Raphaline is lucky, she might get to learn more about her in the future.

Raphaline notices the tenseness that creeps through the air when the guard passes by, but she doesn’t make any sort of acknowledgment outwardly. Instead she offers another soft smile, hoping to add a pinch of joy back into the air as she says “I am not aware of the colony, but I am very familiar with Cenril. A few friends in the past have had a hand or part in the workings of the city. Such an interesting place, a mix of merchants and pirates, no?” A short, silver-belled laugh escapes her as she thinks of the many people she knows who could fall under the title of pirate. “Do you enjoy being a paladin? I have met a few fighters and knights over the years but never really a paladin,” she says, pausing to consider if she might be wrong on that fact. “Yes, many knights, no paladins as of yet.” At least none she would speak with the familiarity of a friend.

Zahrani watches as the guard walks out of earshot, looking back at Raphaline and offering a smile in return, "We cats have historically kept a low profile. It helps us stay organized when we don't draw attention to ourselves. And you are right about Cenril being an interesting place." As for being a paladin, she says, "It's been almost 21 years since Falion adopted me as his daughter and student. I've traveled all over in my duties, and I do enjoy it. We're not like knights, where our loyalty must be bound to a single city-state. My loyalty is to Cyris and His teachings on Freedom, which means I devote myself to empowering others to determine their own lives." Which tends to put her at odds with absolute monarchies and others who benefit from the exploitation of the common folk. Zahrani then takes a turn to ask a question, "Do you enjoy being a violinist?"

Raphaline likes the sentiment behind her devotion, but still has a hard time grasping religion as a whole. Now music, that she can talk about for days. “The violin is the easiest and probably my most proficient instrument that I can play but the piano comes a pretty close second,” she says as she runs her hand over the top of the violin case. “I can move as I play on the violin which creates a transcendental-like experience for me because every part of my body becomes thoroughly involved with not just the creation of the song but also the presentation of it as well.” Chuckling, she shakes her head, causing a few fiery curls to fall into her face. “Be careful asking me about music, I might end up giving you a dissertation on the importance of experiencing it on a daily basis.”

Zahrani laughs heartily at Raphaline's warning, her eyes lighting up at the woman's enthusiasm for music. "I think you get along quite well with the Isran Collective. When they're not working, they're making music or art, and when they're not making music or art, they're dancing. Your dissertation would be like 'preaching to the choir,' if you gave it there." The felines of Cenril took to song and dance as readily as they take to swimming and fishing. She then remembers a gift that she had recently been given by one of the felines who worked at Cenril's docks. "Just a moment, I'll be right back." She quickly walks into the room of the monastery that had been set up as her room; a moment later, she returns with a long stringed instrument shaped almost like a gourd. Twenty strings ran along the neck of the sitar. To Raphaline, the panther says, "A good friend of mine imported this from my birthmother's homeland. I don't know if I'll be an expert any time soon; I don't know of anyone in Lithrydel who's even played one. But I think I'll enjoy learning all the same." She takes a seat again, gently plucking a couple of the strings. They seem well-tuned, making a soft-twanging before giving that resonance that's characteristic of the instrument.

Raphaline becomes very interested in this new instrument. It isn’t one she is familiar with personally, but as the feline plucks a few strings, the bard recognizes the tone of the strings. “I’ve seen a few people play it before outside of Lithrydel. A desert village I happened to stop at for a few days had a woman who played at the market while she sold her handmade jewelry. I was intrigued by the timbre of the instrument and the way the notes can waver based on how the strings are plucked, but I never got a chance to make any deep inquires about it,” says Raphaline as she gestures and gesticulates with her hands what she saw. “You are going to have a wonderful time experimenting and figuring out the best way to elicit music from it. Learning a new instrument is like taking your first steps into a new adventure.” She turns towards her own instrument, unlatches the case and pulls out the dark, cherry wood violin. “Shall I play a note and see what you can find on your instrument?” She lifts the bow up and slowly slides it across the strings, bringing to life their notes without her fingers pressing down on them yet.

Zahrani nods, "My mother came from a place of rainforests and mountains. But I would not be surprised to see this instrument elsewhere." The feline touches each of the frets, plucking a string to play a full scale of notes. She attempts to match the tone that Raphaline sets, a warm grin on her face as the two play. Two Larketians watch with curiosity from the entrance to the courtyard, a human father and his young daughter. As the feline and the elf work together to locate each note on the sitar, Zahrani asks, "How long have you played the violin?"

Raphaline continues to play each note with a long, extended movement of the bow across the strings. It has been too long since she has gotten to teach anyone anything involving music. “I have never had the chance to visit a place with thick rainforests. The closest I have ever gotten to something similar to that is get lost out in Venturil. Don’t go out there unless you want to fight a dinosaur.,” she says, playing another, higher note for the feline. As for the question of her violin playing, she chuckles before saying, “Well, my own mother was a musician, so she started me on the violin as a small child. Coupled with the lengthened lifespan of half-elves, I’d say about 75 years now.” She resists the urge to make a joke about how she doesn’t look her age, but resists by smiling playfully instead.

Zahrani follows the notes that Raphaline plays, the feline catching up rather quickly as she builds muscle-memory in her fingers. "I've been there before, and I'll be going there again soon. A dangerous force has taken root there, and it threatens to expand into Xalious. We have a young lad from our colony studying at the Mage Tower, so you can imagine our concern." As they play, the panther woman offers a playful smile in return, before saying with a slight blush, "I hope I'm as flawless as you at that age." Such a brazen compliment; as amusing as it would be to throw the violinist off balance, Rani's tone indicates that her statement is genuine.

Raphaline shifts her emerald gaze up from her violin so that they fall upon the feline once more as she says, “Thank you, but I do not think you will have any trouble yourself when you add a few more years to your roster.” She turns the music from single notes to a chord progression so the feline can try her hand at something a bit more complex. With the change in music, she turns her attention towards the comment about Venturil. Things have been brewing there for sometime, so she isn’t completely surprised. “What kind of force is it? How close to the mountains has it gotten?” Her tone remains neutral despite the very intense light that has taken up residency in her emerald gaze.

Zahrani does her best to string chords together to match Raphaline’s violin. It’s not perfect, but she can only get better as she practices. With the nebulous, unstructured music wafting through the air, the panther answers the woman’s question on Venturil, “It’s a strange breed of reptilian. They call themselves the Razurath. They’ve built a blockade on the Western gate of Craughmoyle, and I’ve heard they’re abducting magic users. Months before the blockade, I had crossed paths with one of their scouts. He was large and his striping made him look like a piece of mint candy. The kind that gets shared during Yule.”

Raphaline doesn’t mean to laugh, but she does. The thought of candy cane colored dinosaurs is just so out there that the laugh she lets lose isn’t elegant in the least, but more of a full-bellied laugh. After a moment of fighting with herself, she finally gets herself under control enough to say, “I know this is serious, I just, candy cane, evil dinos is just too much.” Shaking her head, she runs a hand across her eyes, dusting away the tears that had formed. With another deep breath, she regains her composure and asks, “When are people heading out that way again?”

The panther feline does her best not to laugh in return at Raphaline's infectious guffawing. She lets the sitar rest on her lap, before responding to the violinist, "I'm actually hoping to speak with the leader of the Mage's Guild about that. A new friend of ours is graduating as a spellblade, and we're looking to check on Amir...the young snow leopard lad we have studying there now." Surely Dyraxdiin would be inclined to help if magic users are at risk of being abducted. "The Guildmaster has a personal stake in this, whether or not he realizes it. We hope to convince him to help us."

Raphaline does not know who the guild master is, but she nods along in total agreement that he should be involved in this. “Hopefully he listens to you and takes heed of the fact that some of his guild members might be or are already in danger.” The bard herself makes a mental note not to head out there without company, just in case the crazy dinos figure out that she has magic as well. “If you get a group together to head out there, let me know, I would like to help.” Her current dress doesn’t serve her up as someone who can handle drastic situations, but then again, appearances can be very deceiving.

Zahrani nods, standing up and saying, "Of course. I'll be doing some scouting at first, but beyond that, I won't plan anything until I speak to the Mage's Guild." She looks into the chapel, before turning back to Raphaline and saying, "I suppose I forgot to ask: what exactly brought you to our Chapel? Is there anything I can help you with?"

Raphaline laughs, finding that she almost forgot why she had to come to the chapel in the first as well. “To be honest,” she says, “I was going to sneak into the concert to play for a bit while I sat on the stage, but this was so much better than that plan.” Carefully, the bard tucks her violin back into the case before she rises as well. “This was a pleasant meeting. Maybe we can meet more often in the future?”

Zahrani gives an understanding nod, "Of course." She watches the elf put away her instrument and get on her feet, silently admiring the woman's choice of outfit before before meeting her gaze once more. With a smile, the feline says, "I would like that, yes. We could meet in Cenril next, if you want. Two of our colony actually work at the Ginger Snapped Bakery." Two Sphinx felines who were cousins, Atakan and Nirali. Atakan had a knack for sourdough, and Nirali had gotten quite legendary with her quiches and savory baked goods.

Raphaline offers her hand once more to the feline and says, "Sounds perfect. I have a soft spot for any sort of baked goods and a good cup of tea." If the feline places her hand in the bard's, she gives it a gentle shake in preparation for her departure. "I suggest working through simple chord progressions for now. When I see you in Cenril next, you will have to let me know how the practicing is coming along." With that, the bard gathers herself and makes a headway back into the chapel and once more out onto the streets of Larket.